2022 NFL picks, score predictions for Week 14

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-6) at San Francisco 49ers (8-4)

Sunday, December 11, 4:25 PM ET

The San Francisco 49ers really have themselves quite the pickle, don’t they?

On the one hand, there’s no need to worry about this team whatsoever for the time being. John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan were extremely lucky to be able to bring Jiimmy Garoppolo back to their program before knowing that Trey Lance was going to miss any sort of significant time with injury this season. When Lance went down, the decision not to trade Garoppolo for pennies on the dollar looked like the smartest move any team made all year.

Then as the 49ers saw they had one of the best defenses in the league (and seemingly one getting better every week), they pulled off a trade for Christian McCaffrey which has given this team so many unique weapons on that side of the ball. With Garoppolo now going down with a season-ending broken foot, how are the 49ers going to adjust?

Can Brock Purdy really keep this team in contention? Can Josh Johnson, recently signed off the Broncos practice squad, keep the ship afloat? Should the 49ers try to get Baker Mayfield?

No matter what happens from this point forward, the 2022 49ers might end up being one of the best teams that could have been. If only Garoppolo had stayed healthy, I think this team was poised for it’s third final four appearance in the last four years. They might still be.

With Tom Brady and the Buccaneers coming to town, it’s Todd Bowles and his crew going up against the Purdy-led 49ers. Everyone knows that NFL matchups aren’t just battles between quarterbacks, but even as good as the 49ers have been defensively this season, I’m not sure they can overcome Tom Brady and the Bucs with their third option at QB. For NFL picks purposes, you’ve got to go with Brady, right?

Prediction: Buccaneers win 22-20